24 drops the ball

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i've been a big (albeit critical) fan of this season of 24. it's been politically slightly more palatable than last season, and dramatically just as engaging.. that is, until the last few weeks, and after last night's episode i'm sorry to say that this season has tanked. it's lost all logic and credibility by switching entire characters for no other reason than to create drama.

ok, now i know there are a lot of consessions that have to be made when watching a show like 24.

they never go to the bathroom. they never get tired. they never eat. sometimes it takes ten minutes to walk down a hallway. sometimes it takes 5 minutes to clean body parts off your face, change clothes and appear on the other side of the city.

but i'm willing to forgive those things because they don't interfere with the core of the characters, which have been so strong.

but this 360 with the president makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. it's a plot twist thrown in to give dramatic purpose to the season's thrid act, and there has been -nothing- in the season leading up to it.

suddenly the president, who was once a shifty weakling, is cold, determined, and ruthless. what prompted this change? did he witness the death of someone close? was there an event immediately previous to this change? no. what changed is that we the viewer have now been informed that he is the villain. it makes no sense at all. it also doesn't gel with any of his actions during the first two thirds of the season. if the weakling bit was just an act, why does he make the choices he did early on? if he's the mastermind behind this, he had sooo many chances to make the whole thing easier. why would he have a big 'fake fight' with walt cummings? why would he so genuinely feign surprise when walt launched into an explanation of his plan? why would walt even need to explain it? what i also don't understand is why the other characters around him aren't saying 'you seem different.' even one line like that would help a lot.

gregory itzin must have been so frustrated when he got last week's script. he sure isn't playing a logical vulcan anymore..

aside from the presidential switch, i'm boggled by jack's shifting morality. in one scene he's perfectly willing to shoot someone in the leg to get them to talk. later, he'll jump through a million hoops when he could have just shot the person in the leg. i think a good formula is:

JM=TTF(CM)

where Jack's Morality equals the Time To Fill times Conventional Morality

something else that guides 24:

NOELTJWT

no one ever lies to jack when tortured. i continue to be mystified as to why this show advocates torture constantly. we've -still- never seen anyone give false information through torture. why!? wouldn't it make great drama???